The Charmed Life of Persephone Halliwell
by lovelystarz
Summary: Persephone Halliwell or Effie as she preferred to be known as had been denying her magical heritage for as long as she could remember, after losing her parents and grandparents to magic she wanted nothing to do with it. But after her cousin Prue dies, Effie finds herself back home in San Francisco and unable to deny her magical heritage any longer.
1. Chapter 1

_Effie Halliwell opened the front door to her apartment and walked in carrying several bags in her arm, once she was in Effie dropped the bags on the floor and shut her front door. Surveying the bags on the floor Effie realized that she may have gone a bit overboard with the shopping but she had a good day and she figured she should reward herself given that she had just bagged her first real grown up job! Persephone Halliwell was now a freelance copywriter after spending much of the previous year interning at a fancy publishing straight after she had graduated college. Effie - as she preferred to be known as she hated the name Persephone which her parents had so cruelly names her - decided to go freelance as being cooped up all day in an office was not her style. Making her way over to her kitchen to grab a bottle of water when her house phone went off. Grabbing the phone en route to the kitchen Effie looked at the called id and saw that it was The Manor. The affectionate name given to the Halliwell family home so it only meant that one of her three older cousins was calling her. Twice in one week Effie thought to herself as she pressed answer._

_"Hello?" Effie answered in a rather cheerful manner as she was always happy to hear from any of her cousins given that they were the only family that Effie had left._

_"P-Persephone? It's me Phoebe…"_

_Effie couldn't help but frown at the use of her full name to the point where she pulled the phone away from her ear to actually look at it in disgust for a brief moment. She hated being called Persephone, the only reason why she was given such a ridiculous name because the women in their family had a tradition of having P names and Effie got the short straw. Whilst the rest of her family had normal names Effie was lumped with Persephone and Phoebe fully well knew that Effie hated her name so much that she went by Effie instead given that it was her who came up with the nickname for sullen and moody five year old Persephone. Effie was always Effie, her family always referred to her as Effie except for her Grandmother but Grams had been dead for years now. In fact the last time anyone in her family called her by her actual first name from the hospital after Grams had a heart attack and fallen down the attic stairs in the manner. Something was wrong, it was the only way to explain why Phoebe was acting so weird. "Phoebe, what is it? What's going on?"_

_"Prue's dead."_

Effie stood outside the front door of The Manor and sighed, she hadn't been here since Grams had died and her cousins had found out that they too were witches. As much as Effie loved this house and all the memories that she had growing up there, The Manor reminded her everything that she had lost, all the people she had lost with Prue being the latest casualty in the Halliwell's magical lives. That was the reason why Effie generally kept a safe distance away from San Francisco, as she didn't want anything to do with her magical heritage where as her cousins had embraced it. Effie had come into her powers on her eighteenth birthday after they had been unbound and after a while she had come to accept who she was with help Grams and her father who had both been witches. But after finding out that bother her mother Poppy and her mother's twin sister Aunt Patty had been killed by demons because of them being witches Effie started to become disenchanted with being a witch.

Even more so when her own father Everett passed away for months later and that was the straw that broke the camel's back for Effie, she turned her back on her magic and her magical heritage and went off to college. Effie had only came home twice, once was just before Grams died who told her that her cousins Prue, Piper and Phoebe would come into their powers with her death. That eventually happened and the second time was after her cousins had come into their powers and started their Charmed destiny. Effie came home to tell them that she knew everything and to explain why she had to stay away from the magical world. Her cousins had reluctantly accepted her choice and off Effie went back to college, continuing her magic free life.

Finally gathering her courage Effie placed her hand on the doorknob but as she did Effie could have sworn that she had received an electric shock of some sorts which caused her to recoil her hand and wince in pain. Effie waited a moment before turning again and as she turned the doorknob the front door opened, Effie wasn't expecting anything less as the front door was never locked. Walking through the door a wave of nostalgia hit Effie because as much as she kept herself away from The Manor to protect herself from the life of magic she wanted no part of, this was always going to be her home. That saying that home was where the heart was, seemed very fitting for The Manor and Effie as she couldn't remember ever being happier than being here at The Manor with her family.

"Hello?" Effie called out as she walked into the foyer just waiting for someone to come out from anywhere and moments later her cousin Phoebe did followed by two men, one a talk dark haired man that Effie didn't recognize and the other was an older man who Effie knew to be her cousins mortal father.

"Effie…" Phoebe began and Effie put down her bags and walked over to her cousin and enveloped her into a huge hug and Effie tried her damn hardest not to start crying but it was hard not too. The news that Prue had been killed by the Source of All Evil's assassin was too much and had devastated Effie as Prue was the strong one out of them all. Effie had known Prue every single day of her life and her being gone just didn't make sense.

"I am so sorry Phoebe, I really am…" Effie chocked out as she pulled away from her cousin and wiped at her eyes.

"I-I'm so glad your home Effie." Phoebe sniffled as Effie moved on to hug her father.

"Uncle Victor, you have my deepest condolences." Effie quietly said as she hugged her uncle, whilst Victor Bennett was only related to her through marriage Effie still considered him to be family. Even after he divorced her mother's twin sister.

"Effie, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend Cole Turner." Phoebe began making introductions as she motioned to the tall, dark haired man beside her. "Cole this is our cousin…"

"Persephone, right?" Cole began offering his hand and Effie took a few seconds before she shook his hand, Effie was well aware that Phoebe's boyfriend was a demon who had tried to kill her cousins before he fell in love with Phoebe. Effie found the whole thing weird but Cole was here and with Phoebe during without a doubt one of her darkest days. That was enough for Effie.

"Effie please, I've heard a lot about you Cole I just wish we had finally met under different circumstances." Effie wearily replied as she glanced over to the sunroom where Prue had died. As she looked Effie had to swallow the mother of all lumps in her throat as she could remember playing with Prue as a child in the sunroom. "Where's Piper?"

"Upstairs…" Phoebe quietly said and Effie excused herself in order to go upstairs to see her elder cousin, it was important to Effie that she see her eldest cousin. Going up the flights of stairs, Effie reached the hallway and she saw a familiar figure standing in front of Prue's room; Leo, who was Piper's husband but also the Charmed Ones white lighter. Effie had met him a few times and he dropped by to see her occasionally to keep her up to date on her cousins.

"Effie." Leo quietly said as he made his way over to her and Effie hugged him, it was something that she was going to have to get used to as the funeral was going to have to be planned. That along with the wake always involved lots of people and hugging.

"How is she?" Effie asked referring to Piper as whilst she was taken the loss of her eldest cousin hard, Effie knew it in no way compared to Piper or Phoebe's even Victor's grief. They had lost a sister and a daughter which Effie could never understand as she was an only child and didn't have children of her own yet. Effie only had the tiniest inkling of what they were feeling based on her own grief. And the fact that Prue had been killed in their own home had just made it all the more worse as everyday they would have to walk past the spot where Prue was killed by a demon and they would all have to live with that.

"Not good." Leo solemnly said and Effie couldn't say that she was expecting anything less, Piper and Prue had always been close so losing Prue must be killing Piper. Just thinking about it made Effie's heart ache for both her cousins and she knew that she couldn't go back to LA. Effie needed to be here, the place where she belonged and with her family. She would not abandon them in their darkest days and nights.

"And you?" Effie questioned as Leo had the right to grief for Prue as well because not only was she one of his charges but also his sister in law and the fact that he had been unable to save Prue must have been eating away at him.

"Don't worry about me."

"I can't help it, worrying about my family is what I do best…" Effie quietly said.

"Piper… She'll be glad to see you Effie." Leo said and knowing it was time Effie allowed Leo to guide her to what she thought was Prue's bedroom but looked more like Piper and Leo's bedroom. And there on the bed was a sight that made Effie's heart constrict in pain as Piper was laying on the bed in a crying. Sliding her shoes off Effie walked over to where the bed was against the windows and climbed onto the empty side. At first Piper didn't react to there suddenly being more weight on the bed but as Effie slid closer towards her she did. Her eyes all read and pussy seemed surprised yet at the same time relieved to see her cousin.

"E-Effie?" Piper chocked out and Effie had to suppress the urge to cry as she needed to be strong for both Piper and Phoebe right now. But it was awfully damn hard to be when she saw how devastated Piper was over losing Prue. But Effie had to remind herself that she was a Halliwell and they were incredibly strong women. Sliding closer to Piper, to the point where they were practically spooning, Effie wrapped an arm round her cousin's waist before placing a kiss on the top of her head,

"It's okay, I'm home now…"


	2. Chapter 2

It was later. Effie wasn't sure of the time but she knew it was really late, it had been a long day. They had to make calls and start making the funeral arrangements which was a challenge in itself and by the end of the day Effie herself was exhausted. She was going to go and book herself into a restaurant but instead Effie was sleeping on the couch as Piper had said that having Effie in the house made her feel slightly better. So Effie agreed to stay and she voluntary took the couch as she didn't want to go into Prue's room and Piper had been trying to summon Prue with every kind of magic for the better part of the evening. Effie didn't even remember her elder cousin going to bed so when she woke up, she went to the kitchen and made a cup of camomile tea for Piper and took it up to the attic but when Effie arrived no one was there. The attic was empty for a couple of candles that were still burning so Effie figured she had just missed Piper who had finally succumbed to her exhaustion and grief. Effie was going to leave the attic and head back downstairs but something made her stop and put down the cup of camomile tea and head over to podium where the Book of Shadows; the magical tome of the Warren Line of witches; their family sat. Over three hundred years old, it had been passed down every generation starting with Melinda Warren who started the Warren/Halliwell witches. When Effie reached the book, she took a deep breath before she reached down and touched the book; gently fingering the triquetra on the front cover. It was the symbol of the Power of Three of rather it was. With Prue dead, so was the Charmed Ones

"Doing some late night reading?"

Effie didn't notice that anyone else had come into the attic so when she heard Leo's voice, she practically jumped out of her skin as Leo had scared her so much. She didn't even realize that anyone else was up, Effie believed that the whole house were asleep but apparently she was very wrong.

"Jeez Leo, sneak up much?" Effie said after her heart had restarted, lightly tugging on her pyjama pants.

"Sorry, I had a charge in trouble and I sensed you were up and I figured maybe we could talk." Leo began as he walked further into the room. "How are you doing Effie?"

"Fine. I wouldn't worry about me I'd focus on Piper because if you hadn't noticed she's a mess and Phoebe is trying to hold it together thinking she has to be the strong one for us all but she'll break soon. Phoebe always breaks…" Effie said referring to the fact that Phoebe was the most emotional one out of them all. Whilst Phoebe wasn't going to break into a thousand pieces like Piper, Effie knew that it was only amount of time until Phoebe could no longer hold her grief in and broke down. And she was going to wait and be ready for that time, Effie had already decided to stay in San Francisco as her family needed her.

_"Persephone."_ Leo said in a manner that Effie that he didn't believe that she was just fine.

"Honestly I don't know Leo, I'm still having a hard time accepting all of this. I know Prue is dead but for it hasn't hit me on some level, I'm still expecting her to waltz in the front door or something. Last thing I expected was for this to happen and to Prue, she always seemed like the invincible one…" Effie sadly noted as looked down at the book and sigh.

"You can feel it can't you Effie? The book calling out to you and pulling you towards it and your destiny." Leo started and Effie sighed, she really wasn't up for having this conversation with her cousin in law at the moment.

"Leo, you know full well that none of this is me. I have up on everything to do with magic years ago and what happened to Prue just reinforced why I gave up being a witch." Effie stated as she reluctantly walked away from the book, she would rather die than admit this but Effie thought Leo was right. There was no other way to explain why she didn't leave the attic straight after realizing that Piper wasn't in here. Something had pulled her towards the book and it wasn't her.

"Still doesn't mean your not a witch Effie, you never relinquished your powers. You've still got them despite the fact that you haven't used them in years." Leo began and Effie looked away uneasily. "Tell me you don't feel stronger being here in the Manor, being near the book?"

"I walked away from this life for a reason Leo as it kills everyone I love, first Aunt Patty then my mom one year later. Then I became a witch myself and then dad died and losing him almost killed me Leo, I was consumed with grief. Grams had told me what happened and I just lost it, I don't much of what happened next until Prue came home and she stayed by my side for the better part of a week. Piper knew what to do, she always did and even Phoebe who was still in that rebellious phase of hers put all her crap with Grams and life in general to be there for me. After that I knew I couldn't stay in this life anymore, that I had to walk away from it before it killed me too and I was right because Grams is dead as is Prue now…" Effie explained feeling herself getting worked up before she felt a shock go up her entire body, which caused her to wince in pain.

"Effie are you okay?" Leo questioned and Effie nodded her head.

"Yeah, I just keep giving myself electric shocks for some reason…" Effie dismally noted until she noticed the weird look on Leo's face, which suggested that something else was going on. "Leo, why do I get the feeling that your going to tell me that I'm not giving myself electric shocks because I keep picking up extra electrons giving me a negative charge…"

"It's a power advancement." Leo announced.

"What?" Effie loudly hissed, careful to keep her voice down as the last thing she wanted was to wake the entire house because of some bad news she had just forgotten. Effie couldn't believe that she was receiving a power advancement and at a time like this. Fate was being one cruel bitch. "Why?"

"Because you came home, your back in The Manor where you first came into your powers. It's natural that your powers would progress Effie, you're a witch and Halliwell one at that, born to two witches. You may not be Charmed Persephone Halliwell but you were on your way to becoming a very powerful witch in your own right before you gave up your craft." Leo explained and Effie went over and picked up the discarded cup of camomile tea she had made for Piper as she needed something to calm her down.

"I'm very aware of who my parents were Leo." Effie said in rather point blank manner, her parents were a touchy subject for Effie given that they were both killed by demons and they were the main reason why she had turned her back on witchcraft.

"Then you know that your father had Electrokinesis."

"And I also know that I haven't used my telekinesis in years Leo, I haven't used any of my basic or active powers in years, so I don't understand how I can be receiving a power advancement." Effie hissed.

"Are you sure about?"

"Fine… Okay? I admit, I have used my abilities maybe a dozen times over the years but that's about it. Still doesn't explain why I'm suddenly becoming electrokenetic, if anything my telekinesis should be advancing …" Effie couldn't help but point out as she took a sip of tea.

"The elders wouldn't have given this to you if there wasn't for a reason Effie." Leo said sounding like the all professional whiteligher instead of her cousin in law.

"Question Leo, do the Elders have any idea of the meanings of the word respect and compassion? I've just lost my eldest cousin, I came home to grieve with my family, not to be given a new power. I am not a Charmed One nor am I in the business of playing witch and protecting the innocent and vanquishing demons. I am just Effie Halliwell and that is it…"

"How long do you think you can keep denying who you really are Persephone? You can't keep running and hiding from what you are and denying your magical heritage. Look around you Effie your back in The Manor, with the book and your family. How much longer can you keep pretending that you can't feel what is supposed to be natural to you?" Leo asked.

"I get it I'm a witch but I'm also a Halliwell and the love I have for my family is so much stronger that the magic given to protect innocents." Effie firmly stated, she knew Leo was right but she didn't want to believe it, she didn't want to go back to the life that she had abandoned but here she was back in her family home, and after one day standing next to their magical book, talking about all things magic and power advancements. Effie wasn't sure how long much longer she could deny who she really was.


	3. Chapter 3

The day of the funeral came quicker that Effie expected and when she woke up, she just had this empty feeling inside her as she knew that today was the day that they could no longer deny that Prue was dead as they were going to bury her. Piper was still in denial about Prue being dead and was searing through the Book of Shadows all night to find someway to bring Prue back be it through time travel, genies and spells. She had even tried to summon Prue's spirit but that hadn't worked, Effie knew it wouldn't work as despite the fact that she didn't practice witchcraft anymore she knew you couldn't summon the spirit of a loved one who had recently died. Speaking of dead relatives it was like a funeral parlour in The Manor, every inch of the first floor was covered in flowers sent by friends and acquaintances of Prue sending their condolences. It freaked Effie out sleeping in room filled with funeral flowers so she had crashed with Phoebe last night as Cole was hiding out in the underworld as apparently the Source had every demonic hit man out looking for him because Cole had save Phoebe.

Sitting in the kitchen Effie was fully dressed and ready to go despite the fact that they weren't due to leave for the church for at least another hour. But she had woken up early and she needed to distract herself so she got dressed so now she was sitting in the kitchen drinking what would no doubt be her first coffee of the day.

The last couple of days Effie had been thinking about what Leo had spoken to her about how drawn she felt to the book and her power advancement, then the whole thing about Effie needing to stop running away from who she really was. It made Effie think, it was hard not to given that she was back in her family home that was sitting on a spiritual nexus with her even more magical relatives. As she sat there Effie looked at the folded up newspaper that had just been delivered that morning and narrowing her eyes ever so slightly, the newspaper started hovering in the air. Effie let it just hover there for a moment before letting move up and down some more before Phoebe walked into the kitchen. Effie got so startled by this that she last her concentration that the newspaper dropped to the ground.

"Phoebe, oh my god… I am so sorry, I don't know what I was doing especially on today of all days." Effie said in a rather erratic yet apologetic manner as she hopped off her chair and picked up the newspaper.

"'No… Not at all, I think it's great that your using magic Effie." Phoebe said with a reassuring smile and Effie couldn't help but sigh. She wouldn't go that far out and say that she was using magic again, it was more like making sure she was making sure she still knew what she was doing. But Effie supposed that she was going to be using magic one way or another due to the fact that the elders had just given her Electrokinesis and no doubt she'd be prone to letting off sparking of electricity until she figured out the trigger and learnt to keep it under control. That alone would take at least a week much to Effie's dismay. However she was surprised about how calm and collected Phoebe was being about it because if it was the other way round, Effie knew she'd be pissed as hell. "You okay Effie?"

"Yeah I'm fine, it's just that it's weird coming home and I realized last night that I every time I come home it's because someone is dead. I wish I was here under different circumstances but last time it was Grams and now it's Prue." Effie weakly said.

"It's not your fault." Phoebe assured Effie and she nodded as Effie knew whose fault this was; Shax, the source's personal assassin so she had been told and the source himself. They were the ones who had killed Prue but that didn't change the fact that Effie still felt so bad about her never being around. Maybe if she had been here then things might have been different.

"She called me a couple of days before she died, Prue I mean…" Effie began and Phoebe took a tentative breath. "It was nothing major, she was just checking in on me and seeing what I was getting up to. We talked for a while, I told Prue about the job interview I had and Prue was certain I'd get it. Then she told me how well her job was going and it was just really nice. We ended things by Prue promising that she'd try and get all three of you to come down and visit soon. It still doesn't seem like she's gone, it's like I'm just wait for her to waltz in here to grab a coffee and kind of do a double take when she saw me, like she always did on those rare times I did come home."

"I know it just doesn't seem real, this must be reminding you of Uncle Everett?" Phoebe questioned and Effie had to swallow a massive lump in her throat, as her cousin was right. Today brought up memories of her own father's funeral and just like Prue he was killed by a demon. Took an energy ball to the chest and Effie could remember how devastated she had been, with her mom's death Effie was to young to really understand what was going on. But Effie had been eighteen when her father had been killed and she knew the full details of his death.

"Almost six years dad's been gone, I still miss him everyday…" Effie said glancing at her hand, remembering what Leo said about it not being a coincidence that she had developed Electrokinesis given that it had been her father's active power.

"I miss them all." Phoebe added and Effie nodded, they didn't just miss Prue and Effie's dad Everett but also their mom's Poppy and Patty not to mention Grams.

"Can I tell you something Phoebe and you promise that it'll stay between us?" Effie slowly asked as Phoebe was really the only person she could tell, there was no way Effie could tell Piper this. Leo would probably go to the elders or something then Effie didn't know Cole well enough to confide in him the times he was here. Phoebe was always the best person to go to for advice.

"Sure Eff, what is it?" Phoebe asked as she took a seat next to Effie.

"I have this feeling Phoebe that something is going happen, I don't know what is but I have this feeling that something is going to happen soon and I have the feeling that I have to be here. I'm no psychic but I've just been having this really weird feeling and couple with the my new power–" Effie started to explain as she pushed a piece of her brown hair behind her ear.

"–New power?" Phoebe interrupted and Effie swore in her head, she did not mean to say that as she was trying to keep all the magical talk down to a minimum seeing as magic had kind of killed Prue and they were burying her today.

"Yeah, it seems like coming home has allowed me to develop electrokinesis just like my dad. I have no idea why it happened and it was the last thing I want given my stance on all things magical. But it doesn't matter Pheebs, all that matters today is burying Prue and letting her finally be able to rest in peace…"


End file.
